The local Advisory Neighborhood Commission just approved a community benefits package, allowing the Eckington development project to go forward. However, that package did not come together until after some controversy. Keep reading…

Ward 4 residents and bicycle riders of all stripes have been waiting for the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) to complete a missing segment the Metropolitan Branch Trail between Fort Totten and Eastern Avenue for more than two decades. But some residents aren’t happy with proposed designs to make the trail a wide sidewalk in some places, and an on-street route in others. Keep reading…

Trails are usually a great way to avoid car traffic. But sometimes, both by accident and not, drivers end up on them. It's a bizarre problem, but it happens often enough that it is important to remember what to do in case you find yourself facing down a car on the W&OD or the Metropolitan Branch trails. Keep reading…

On Rhode Island Avenue, right next to the Metro, developer MRP Realty has plans to turn what's currently a strip mall into new housing. The company recently changed course on how it's going about its plans, essentially to make them less vulnerable to attacks from a vocal minority of neighbors. This has big ramifications for housing across the District. Keep reading…

Some day in the not-too-distant future, the Metropolitan Branch Trail will run through Fort Totten on its way up to Silver Spring. It will also run as a separate bikeway near the Brookland Metro rather than sharing space with cars on 8th Street NE. Keep reading…

Florida Avenue NE is a very difficult, dangerous place to ride a bike. DDOT studied how to fix the problem, and then put forward a plan that seems to ignore some of its own key findings about what makes the road so harrowing. Keep reading…

All in all, the Washington region is pretty bike-friendly, with lots of trails and bike lanes everywhere. To show how many of them connect, designer Michael Graham created a map that shows some of the area's most popular bike routes in the same style a subway map shows the lines in a rail system. Keep reading…

Where the Metropolitan Branch Trail meets R Street in DC's Eckington neighborhood, there's a fenced off piece of land that will soon become a park. The developer that owns half of the site has plans for a housing and retail building that goes hand in hand with the park, trail, and surrounding neighborhood. Keep reading…

A large park is coming to NoMa, and its design includes a lawn and a children’s play area. There will also be a café situated around two pedestrian walkways that extend DC’s street grid through the space.
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Part of the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) near the NoMa Metro stop may close for several months to make space for building construction, meaning there will be no direct route to avoid the treacherous intersection at Florida Avenue and New York Avenue. But what if there’s a way to make the intersection far safer for walking and biking? Keep reading…

In Charlotte, an emergency access path next to a light rail line doubles as a popular trail. It’s a public space that has helped transform the city’s identity, and a great example of how to take something old and unused and make it new.
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Plans for a massive new development planned along Rhode Island Avenue NE include affordable housing, new connections to a large nearby apartment complex, and links to an important bike trail.
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Plans for a big development in NoMa include new public “bike lobby” that will connect the Metropolitan Branch Trail to Florida Avenue. As of now, though, the storage space and passageway won’t be open around the clock, making it less useful and the trail potentially less safe.
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By the end of 2018, a new bridge will replace the one that currently carries Monroe Street over the train tracks in Brookland. The project will include new sidewalks, landscaping, lighting, and traffic signals, all of which should make the area better for walking.
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Today, people using the Metropolitan Branch Trail have to make two sharp turns at R Street NE to stay on the trail. The NoMa Business Improvement District has plans to “soften” the route by making it straighter and to add a small park alongside it.
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